Thursday, April 19, 2007

On top of Manhattan

The top of Yeshiva University's Belfer Hall is the highest point in Manhattan. Today I finally got around to exploring the upper levels of the building.Before you think that I never went to the "top" floor, allow me to explain. The normal passenger elevators go to the 16th floor. How dull. The freight elevator goes to the 17th floor. Eh. The stairs go to the 18th floor and the roof.

The roof of Belfer is quite interesting in its own right. Since it's the tallest point, there are lots of antennas, communications equipment and bits of the Titanic on it.But more interesting than smokestacks is, by far, the view. We'll start with straight down:Then there are the bridges. In order of appearance: The George Washington Bridge to NJ, the Whitestone (R) and Throgs Neck (L) Bridges to Queens, and (believe it or not) the Tappan Zee Bridge:Last but not least, there's the unparalleled view of Manhattan. Be sure to click here to see it full-size [1.7MB].

According to Wikimapia, the highest land point in Manhattan is a few hundred yards west of Yeshiva at 265feet above sea level. I live around the corner from there, and there's a plaque at the park stating the same thing.

About

The Lansey Brothers' Blog is a joint project between the Three Lansey Brothers: Eli, Jonathan (Yoni) and Aryeh (in age [not height] order).
Three posts per week. One brother per post. Results not guaranteed.
Be sure to check out The Unofficial Official Intro Post